Brahmas host the Mudbugs on Wednesday night

A Brahmas win puts them in first place in the Southeast Division

The Texas Brahmas and the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs will meet for the fourth time this season on Wednesday night at the NYTEX Sports Center. Both teams have a 9-4-1 record and 19 points. Both teams are in second place in their division. Both teams are coming off of a big loss.

Thanks to the Mississippi RiverKings' 5-3 victory over the Laredo Bucks on Tuesday night, the Brahmas have the opportunity to take the top spot in the Southeast division with a win against the 'Bugs.

The Brahmas will have an advantage on home ice with their 6-1-0 record at NYTEX. In their previous three meetings, the Brahmas went 2-1-0. The Mudbug's visit will cap a five-game road trip that began at NYTEX on November 14th. The Mudbugs have gone 1-3 on this trip.

This will be a different Mudbugs team than the Brahmas faced in their last two meetings, Several players who were out due to injuries will be back on the ice; notably, defenseman Clay Thoring. In addition, forward Joe Ori has re-signed with the team. As of this writing, goaltender Ryan Mior, who is second in the league with a 2.22 GAA is still out on injured reserve. Kenny Carroll has been back from his injury for three games now. He won two of them and has a 3-2-0 record.

The Brahmas have benefitted from Dan Wildfong's in-season recruiting with the return of Grant Jacobsen, Scott Shepard and Jordan Cameron. In addition, Jason Deitsch's return from his stint in the AHL has been an additional boost to the team. Deitsch now wears the "A" on his jersey, once worn by Lance Galbraith who was placed on waivers on Tuesday.

The Brahmas still lead the league in the powerplay but are second to last in penalty killing. The Mudbugs are third in the league on the powerplay and sixth in penalty killing. In their last meeting, the Brahmas won with a powerplay goal by Grant Jacobsen in overtime. The previous game was won on three powerplay goals by the Brahmas. The game is certain to be a physical one. Mudbugs goon Brett Angel has returned from a leave granted by the league and there have been several brawls between the two teams this season.

If you can't get out to NYTEX, don't miss the game on Nifty-TV.